The Adjuster Success Method: Career Training for Insurance Adjusters
Getting licensed is one thing. Learning how to find work, manage claims, and build a successful adjusting career is another.
Getting your insurance adjuster license is an important first step, but it doesn’t necessarily prepare you for everything that comes next.
How do you get hired? What equipment do you really need? What happens when you receive your first claim? And how do you turn adjusting into a steady, long-term career?
Those are the questions we set out to answer when we created The Adjuster Success Method, an online career training course developed by veteran insurance adjusters and AdjusterPro alumni.
The course goes beyond licensing and estimating software to teach the practical side of working as an insurance adjuster, including finding assignments, preparing for fieldwork, and following a step-by-step process for handling claims.
Why We Created the Adjuster Success Method
By John O’Brien, course creator and veteran insurance adjuster
My business partner, Peter Gaetano, and I have worked for a host of different independent adjusting (IA) firms and insurance carriers throughout our careers.
We’ve worked daily and catastrophe (CAT) claims all over the country and handled almost every peril you can imagine, for both residential and commercial claims.
Our experience has taught us a lot, but perhaps the most important thing we’ve learned is this:
A successful career in insurance adjusting is not an accident. Nor is it totally dependent on catastrophic weather events like hurricanes.
So how do you create real long-term success as a claims adjuster?
What steps or additional training should you take? How do you get a job and maintain your income? What do you really need to know about the industry to establish a solid career and avoid pitfalls?
Answering those questions is what led us to partner with AdjusterPro to create The Adjuster Success Method course.
A successful career as a claims adjuster requires applying a simple system of action with consistency and determination. It isn’t overcomplicated or mysterious, but you do need to know where and how to start.
And that’s where The Adjuster Success Method comes in.
We created this method based on our experiences, both good and bad. It’s a combination of what we know, what we wish we’d known, what works, what doesn’t, and how to overcome the inevitable challenges.
It’s more than job training. It’s career training for insurance adjusters.
Who Should Take the Adjuster Success Method?
The course was created for people at different stages of their adjusting careers, including:
- Aspiring insurance adjusters who want to understand how the industry works and what it takes to build a career.
- Newly licensed adjusters who are ready to find work but aren’t sure where or how to start.
- Licensed adjusters struggling to find steady work who need a better approach to pursuing opportunities.
- Working adjusters who want to improve their processes, increase productivity, and build a more consistent career.
Whether you’re just starting out or haven’t quite hit your stride yet, the goal is the same: give you a practical method for moving forward.
Do You Need an Adjuster License to Take the Course?
No. There are no prerequisites for the Adjuster Success Method.
You don’t need to have completed a licensing course or be familiar with estimating software.
We do recommend getting the appropriate adjuster license for your state and career goals, because licensing is required for many adjusting positions and can expand your employment opportunities.
But you don’t need a license to begin this training.
Why?
Because the Adjuster Success Method isn’t about policy interpretation or learning to use estimating software. Those are important technical skills that adjusters need to develop.
This course goes beyond those basics. It focuses on what you need to do to become a successful working adjuster, from finding opportunities to managing claims and building relationships with adjusting firms.
If you’re unsure which license you need, AdjusterPro’s free Insurance Adjuster Career Path Builder can help you identify the appropriate starting point.
What’s Included in the Adjuster Success Method Course?
The Adjuster Success Method is a 100% online, self-paced course. You can work through the material on your own schedule and revisit sections whenever you need a refresher.
We’ve divided the training into three main sections, each covering an important part of an adjuster’s career.
Section 1: Career Planning and Finding Work
Learn how the independent adjusting industry works, where to find opportunities, and how to position yourself for long-term success.
This section is devoted to giving you the knowledge and confidence to actively pursue adjusting opportunities at every stage of your career.
We’ll show you how to get yourself in the right place, with the right frame of mind, to make the most of every opportunity.
What you’ll learn:
- Types of adjusting jobs: Understand the different career opportunities available and the training you may need to qualify or apply.
- Job hunting and applications: Build your application package and learn strategies for finding work. Applications will be your new part-time job, and we’ll show you how to be efficient and effective.
- Getting paid and managing finances: Learn how adjusters get paid, how to read a fee schedule, and how to build a work budget.
- Working with IA firms: Understand how relationships with adjusting firms really work, who to call, and what to say.
- Daily claims vs. catastrophe claims: Hear about the advantages and disadvantages of both from veterans who’ve been there.
- Building your professional reputation: Learn how to provide top-notch service that makes insureds rave about you and firms depend on you.
The benefit to you: Develop a strategy for pursuing quality claims opportunities throughout the year and building a reputation as the go-to adjuster when things need to get done.
Section 2: Tools and Safety
Find out what equipment you really need, what you can skip, and how to prepare for work in the field.
The tools and gadgets available to adjusters run the gamut from simple tape measures to complex and ridiculously expensive equipment.
But buying everything you see isn’t necessarily going to make you a better adjuster.
This section explains which tools are vital, how to choose and maintain your equipment, and how to manage your mobile workspace to avoid costly mistakes that can impact your career.
What you’ll learn:
- Guiding principles that can save you time and money in the field.
- How to choose and maintain the right equipment.
- Which tools are essential and which can help you work more efficiently.
- Why appropriate clothing and professional appearance matter.
- Ladder types, sizes, uses, and important safety considerations.
The benefit to you: Time is money in the claims industry. Having the right equipment and knowing how to use it efficiently can help you reduce wasted time, avoid unnecessary expenses, and stay focused on completing quality work.
Section 3: How to Do the Job
Follow a practical, step-by-step system for handling claims from assignment through completion.
One of the greatest challenges for new adjusters is keeping track of the many tasks and steps required to close a claim.
This section teaches the process we use to handle claims, from the first assignment through inspection, documentation, and closeout.
This isn’t general theory or a suggestions list.
We’ll walk you through each step of the process and provide checklists to help you track the work from start to finish.
The course also includes photo checklists and scope sheets to help you gather important information during an inspection.
What you’ll learn:
1. Pre-claim administration
A significant part of being a successful adjuster involves administrative tasks such as contacting insureds, maintaining files, scheduling inspections, and route planning.
Master this part of the job, and the rest of the process can flow much more smoothly.
2. Inspection discipline
We’ll show you how to use your time on-site effectively and efficiently.
You’ll learn habits that help you collect the photographs, measurements, and damage notes you need the first time, reducing unnecessary return trips and missing information.
3. Closing out and getting paid
The work isn’t done until your claim has been properly completed, submitted, and accepted.
Learn how to overcome the “closing jitters,” manage the final steps of a claim, and keep pursuing new assignments so your claims queue doesn’t run dry.
The benefit to you: You’ll have a clearer understanding of what to expect and what to do when you receive your first claim.
Whether you’re managing one assignment or twenty, a consistent process can help you produce quality work, reduce stress, and improve productivity.
Of course, every carrier and adjusting firm has its own procedures and requirements. Our method provides a practical foundation you can adapt to the assignments you’re handling.
What Makes This Career Training Different?
There are plenty of courses that can help you pass an insurance adjuster licensing exam. There are also training programs that teach estimating software and technical claims skills.
Those are important.
But when Peter and I started adjusting, there were things we had to figure out on our own.
How do you get noticed by IA firms? What does a good application look like? How do you organize your first assignments? What tools are actually worth buying? How do you keep your claims moving and make sure you get paid?
We learned many of those lessons through trial and error.
The Adjuster Success Method is our way of sharing that experience with adjusters who are just getting started or who haven’t been able to establish the career they want.
Our goal is to help you avoid some of the mistakes we made and give you a practical system you can use throughout your career.
It’s not a guarantee of employment or a particular income. But it can help you become better prepared for the realities of the job.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Adjuster Success Method a licensing course?
No. The Adjuster Success Method is career training, not a pre-licensing or exam preparation course. It focuses on finding work, understanding the independent adjusting industry, choosing equipment, and managing claims. If your state requires an adjuster license, you’ll need to satisfy those requirements separately.
Does the course teach Xactimate?
No. The Adjuster Success Method focuses on career preparation and claims-handling processes rather than estimating software. Adjusters who want to develop their property estimating skills should consider separate Xactimate training.
Can experienced adjusters benefit from this course?
Yes. Although the course is especially useful for new adjusters, experienced professionals may benefit from reviewing job-search strategies, claims workflows, time management, and other practices that can help them work more efficiently.
Is the Adjuster Success Method included in the Total Adjuster Package?
Yes. AdjusterPro includes the Adjuster Success Method in its Total Adjuster Packages, alongside licensing or exam preparation and additional career-readiness training. It can also be purchased separately. Regardless, it will remain in your AdjusterPro classroom until you’re ready. The course will also stay available to you even after you complete it so you can reference any of the material for a refresher.
Ready to Build a Successful Adjusting Career?
The Adjuster Success Method is the course I wish I’d taken when I started adjusting claims.
We’ve done the work, made the mistakes, learned the lessons, and developed a system that has helped us build our careers.
Now we want to share it with you.
If you’re just getting started, or if you’re already working but ready to take your career to the next level, I hope you’ll join us.
Explore the Adjuster Success Method Course
John O’Brien is a veteran insurance claims adjuster, AdjusterPro alumnus, and co-creator of the Adjuster Success Method alongside Peter Gaetano.
